OFFICERS 

CHARLES  N.  WHEELER.  Inter  Ocean,  President. 
JAY  CAIRNS',  Record-Herald,  1st  Vice  President. 
CLAIRE  BRIGGS,  Tribune,  2d  Vice  President. 
FRANK     COLLINS.     Assistant     Secretary,     Union 

Trust    Company,    Treasurer. 
WM.   FREDERIC   NUTT,   Financial  and  Recording 

Secretary. 
LEROY  TRUMAN  GOBLE.  Librarian. 

DIRECTORS 

Julius   Reynolds    Kline       Harry  Daniel 
George  L.   Louis  Charles   Lederer 

Rudolph    Berliner  Mark  S.  Watson 


PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  PRESS  CLUB 

1880— Franc  B.  Wilkie 
1881— W.  K.  Sullivan 
1882— Samuel  J.  Medill 
1883— William   E.    Curtis 
18S4 — James  B.  Bradwell 
1885 — Joseph  R.   Dunlop 
1886— John  F.    Ballantyne 
18S7— James  W.  Scott 
1888— James  W.  Scott 
1890— Stanley  Waterloo 
1891— W.   A.   Taylor 
1892— John  E.  Wilkie 
18S3— Stanley  Waterloo 
1894— Frank  A.  Vanderlip 
1895— A.   T.   Packard 
1896— Joseph   Medill 
1897 — Washington  Hesing 
1898— William  M.  Knox 
1899— William  M.  Knox 
1900— John  E.  Wright 
1901— William  H.   Freeman 
1902— Homer  J.  Carr 
1903— Homer  J.  Carr 
1904— Homer  J.  Carr. 
1905 — Homer  J.  Carr 
1906— John  J.  Flinn 
1907— John  J.  Flinn 
1908— Richard  H.   Little 
1909— Henry  B.    Chamberlin 
1910— John   C.    Shaffer 
1910— Charles  H.  Sergei 
1911— Charles  H.  Sergei 
1912— Douglas   Malloeh 
1913— Charles  N.  Wheeler 


CONCERNING    THE 

PRESS  CLUB 
OF  CHICAGO 

Its  Advantages 
Its  Members 
Its  History 
Its  Purposes 
Its  Legends 
Its  Future 

SETTING    FORTH  THE  BENEFITS 
AND    PRIVILEGES   OF  MEMBER- 
SHIP AND  VARIOUS  FACTS  WHICH 
WILL    INTEREST  THOSE    WHO 
CONTEMPLATE   IDENTIFYING 
THEMSELVES  WITH  THE  GREAT- 
EST PRESS  CLUB  IN  THE  WORLD. 
1913 

COMMITTEES    OF   THE   PRESS   CLUB 
OF   CHICAGO. 

House  Committee — 

Jay  Cairns,  Chairman;  Harry  R.  Daniel,  Wm. 
J.  Cochran,  George  L.  Louis,  Walter  A.  Wash- 
burne. 

Entertainment — 

Rudolph    Berliner,    Chairman;      Karl     McVltty, 

Edward  H.  Fox,  George  S.  Wood.  Mark  Wat- 
son, Richard  H.  Little,  Jay  Cairns,  Harry 
Sheldon  White,  W.  J.  Cochran,  Harry  R. 
Daniel,  Opie  Read,  Dr.   Thomas  J.  O'Malley. 

Reception — 

Dr.  Wm.  Frederic  Nutt,  Chairman;  Dr.  G.  Cook 
Adams.  John  McGovern,  Wm.  Lightfoot  Viss- 
cher,  Frank  Collins,  Charles  Lederer,  Dr.  G. 
Frank  Lydston,  Leroy  T.  Goble.  W.  E.  Ray. 
Harry  R.   Daniel,   E.  H.    Xorris,   Mark   Watson. 

Constitution — 

Frank  D.  Comerford,  Chairman;  Dr.  Wm.  Fred- 
eric Nutt,  Julius  R.  Kline,  Opie  Read,  Michael 
F.  Girten,  William  M.  Knox,  Wm.  Lightfoot 
Visscher. 

Art- 
Claire    A.    Briggs,    Chairman;    Charles    Lederer, 
Mark  Hayne,   Phil  Sawyer,  L.  R.  Merrell,   Syd- 
ney Smith,  Robert  J.  Campbell, 

Committee    at    New  York — 

S.  E.  Darby,  Chairman;  J.  W.  Long,  E.  F. 
Ingraham. 

Committee  at  Washington — 

O.  F.  S'chuette,  Chairman;  G.  E.  Roberts,  Ed- 
ward B.   Clark. 

Billiard  and   Pool — 

Dr.  Eugene  Wayland,  Chairman;  E.  H.  Norris, 
Alex.  J.  Johnson,  Claire  A.  Briggs,  Orion  O. 
Mather,    P.   F.    Lowder, 

Literary — 

W.  D.  Eaton,  Chairman;  Opie  Read,  Stanley 
Waterloo,  Henry  Irving  Greene,  Leroy  T. 
Goble,  John  McGovern.  Dr.  G,  Frank  Lydston, 
Forest  Crissey,  Byron  Williams.  Dr.  John  Gil- 
man.  Wm.  Frederic  Nutt,  George  W.  Wiggs, 
Rex  Beach,  Frank  Comerford,  Col.  Wm.  Light- 
foot Visscher,  John  U.  Higinbotham,  Forest 
Crissey,   Clem  Yore. 

Membership — 

Walter  A.  Washburne,  Chairman,  Tribune; 
Jay  C.  Cairns,  Record-Herald;  W.  E.  Moore, 
Inter  Ocean;  Jacques  Lait,  American;  Richard 
Henry  Little,  Examiner;  K.  M.  P*atterson, 
Journal;  Chris.  Haggerty,  Associated  Press;  W. 
A.  Patterson,  Western  Newspaper  Union;  W. 
E.  Wray,  Daily  News;  Henry  N.  Gary,  Pub- 
lishers' Association:  Edwaid  B.  Clark,  Even- 
ing Post;  Thurber  W.  Gushing,  City  News  Bu- 
reau; John  Fay.  New  York  World;  H.  Percye 
Millar,   New  York   Times. 


Cki  c^\2J^ 


The 
and 


Press   Club 
Its    Power 


,j  ORE  than  any  other  organization 
in  the  northern  states,  the  Press 
Club  of  Chicago  is  a  growing 
power  in  the  commercial,  eco- 
nomic and  political  affairs  of  the  middle 
west  and  west.  The  reason  for  this  lies  in 
the  peculiar  quality  of  its  membership. 

Originally,  it  was  a  club  of  newspaper 
and  ether  writers.  In  effect  it  is  that  now. 
Its  membership  includes  nearly  all  the  men 
actively  engaged  in  newspaper  work  here 
and  in  the  west,  and  its  gOA^ernment  remains 
in  their  hands.  But  during  the  last  ten  of 
its  thirty-four  years,  and  largely  because 
of  the  continuous  contact  of  its  members 
with  leaders  of  activity  in  every  department 
of  current  life,  it  has  attracted  members 
from  all,  until  its  councils  are  shared  and 
its  influence  augmented  by  a  most  remark- 
able grouping  of  minds,  representative  of 

all  that  is  best 
and  most  valua- 
ble in  the  forces 
that  are  moving 
the  world  today. 
It  has  a  signifi- 
cance pecuHarly 
\\  its     own,     and 


^f 


has  become  a  permanent 
and  highly  important  in- 
stitution of  far  more 
than  local  scope. 

As  a  club,  it  is  not  a 
shaper  of  public  policies, 
political  or  other.  But 
it  is  distinctively  the 
home  and  meeting 
ground  of  the  men  by 
whose  daily  work  the 
newspapers   of   Chicago 

are  brought  out ;  and  Chicago  is  the  fourth 

city  of  the  world. 

Their  combined  industry  expresses  every 

day  all  there  is  of  opinion,  aspiration  and 

realization  in  the  swift- 
ly changing  elements  of 

these    formative    times. 

No  man  nor  party  nor 

interest   can   use   it   for 

any     special     purpose, 

least  of  all  for  publicity. 

But     the     responsibility 

and   the   power   of   the 

public  press  are  carried 

by    its   individual   mem- 
bers,   each    in    his    own 

position    and    the    work    it    demands ;    and 

carried  with  a  jealous  conscience. 

The  qualities  of  intellect  and  honesty  their 

work  requires  give  them  at  once  a  mutual 
sympathy  and  a  hold 
on  things,  and  makes 
possible  their  cohesion 
as  an  organized  body. 

Those  qualities  have 
led  some  of  them  to 
high  successes  in  other 
helds. 

Frank  A.  Vanderlip, 
president  of  the  Nation- 
al City  Bank  of  New 
York,  was  president  of 


V;cTC«sr  if\^')Of^ 


the  Club,  and  a  member 
of  the  Tribune  staff,  be- 
fore his  genius  in  finance 
disclosed  itself  and  Sec- 
retary Gage  called  him 
to  the  treasury  at  Wash- 
ington. 

John  E.  Wilkie  served 
on  the  Tribune  before 
he  became  chief  of  the 
United  States  secret 
service. 

The  late   William   E.   Curtis   was  presi- 
dent of  the  Club  and  managing  editor  of 
the  Inter  Ocean  before  he  entered  on  the 
career  of  world  travel  that  made  him  fa- 
mous. 

Frank  Wayland  Pal- 
mer was  editor  success- 
ively of  the  Inter  Ocean 
and  the  Herald  be- 
fore  he  was  ap- 
pointed  public  printer 
and  brought  the  govern- 
ment's printing  office  up 
to  be  the  largest  and 
most  efficient  on  earth. 
Frederick  F.  Cook, 
a  member  of  the  Press  Club,  had  many 
years  of  service  on  Chicago  newspapers 
before  he  went  to  New  York  to  man- 
age the  work  and  finances  of  the  Asso- 
ciated   Charities. 

Melville  E.  Stone, 
general  manager  of  the 
Associated  Press,  one  of 
the  Club's  founders,  was 
editor  of  the  Daily  News 
v.^hen  he  was  elected  to 
that  extraordinarily  im- 
portant position,  to  build 
up  the  first  complete  and 
inflexibly  accurate  news 
service  ,  that  ever  has 
existed. 


«^  ObDE^J  ARf^OUl^ 


^Kk^■'ul,l: 


The  list  of  Press  Club 
men  who  have  won  high 
distinction  on  merits  that 
were  first  made  known 
in  their  work  on  the 
n  e  w  s  p  apers  of  this 
town  is  both  long 
and  very  honorable.  The 
roster  will  show  many 
names  familiar  to  any 
one  who  is  at  all  ac- 
quainted with  the  high  business  concerns 
and  the  directing  forces  of  the  na- 
t  i  o  n.  William  Jennings  Bryan  is  a 
newspaper  man  as  well  as  a  lawyer.  So  was 
Senator   Lewis,   and    so  -• 

also  former  Vice  Presi- 
dent Fairbanks.  They 
were  and  are  devoted 
Press  Club  members.  So 
are  the  actual  heads  of 
most  of  the  leadin^^  dai- 
lies, the  editors  of  some 
of  the  great  magazines, 
and  the  most  successful 
and  influential  of  that 
group  of  American  wri- 
ters who  have  broad  vision  and  profound 
perception  of  the  causes  that  underlie  the 
development  of  trade,  finance  and  industry 
— such  men  as  Will  Payne,  Forrest  Crissy, 
Trumbull  White  and 
_  ^^^  George  Harvey. 

M-^^^\^^  These     and     others 

1     ^.r-vJiffl         like     them,     all     mem- 
bers  of   this    Club,   ad- 
dress   world    audiences, 
and    express    an    enor- 
Jns^%^  j^       mous  influence  in  world 
if  [f^        aflfairs. 
%A        ^y^^  No     other    club     can 

\k   ^fte^c+f-       show     so     many     great 
names    in   business   and 


7/cB^ 


STAMji^vW^li'' 


the  learned  professions, 
side  by  side  with  so 
many  who  have  earned 
renown  as  authors  and 
journalists.  Mark 
Twain,  Eugene  Field, 
J^^^C^j^^  James  Whitcomb  Reilly, 
*^    M^  Ben   King,    Opie   Read, 

Stanley  Waterloo,  Hen- 
ry Watterson,  Bob  Bur- 
dette  and  a  brilliant  line 
of  others  were  and  are 
our  men.  By  a  law  in  psychology  equivalent 
to  the  material  law  of  chemical  affinity,  the 
Club  has  drawn  to  itself  the  best  and  most 
commanding  from  all  the  higher  walks.  The 
value  of  the  association 
is  evident.  It  sinks  all 
differences  of  belief  or 
opinion,  and  coheres  by 
virtue  of  common  cath- 
olicity and  a  single 
purpose  for  the  greatest 
good. 

It  exists  as  a  combi- 
nation   of    multifarious 
powers,  not  as  a  power 
combined    for    pressure 
in  any  one  direction.     That  is  why  it  means 
so  much  to  the  city,  the  larger  half  of  the 
nation,     and     the     time     in     which     we 
live. 

It  stands  upon  a 
sound  foundation  of  ma- 
terial possessions.  It 
owns  the  Club  house 
and  all  its  contents.  The 
assets  are  easily  apprais- 
able  in  the  neighborhood 
of  a  quarter  of  a  million. 
Its  estate  is  growing  in 
value  from  year  to  year. 
Its  membership  and  its 
meaning   are   holding   a 


growth  equal  at  all  points  with  the  growth 
of  the  city  and  the  magnificent  empire  of 
which  the  city  is  the  commercial  and  finan- 
cial capital. 

Any  man  of  consequence  may  well  be 
proud  to  be  in 
and  of  it.  The 
years  of  its 
finest  utility  are 
yet  before  it ; 
and  this  is  the 
best  assurance 
that  it  shall 
prosper  and  en- 
dure. 


la 


Comforts    of   the    Club 


-'*^^ 


THE  Press  Club 
of  Chicago  has 
a  w  e  1 1-e  quipped, 
well-operated  club 
house  at  26  North 
Dearborn  street, 
Chicago.  It  owns 
and  occupies  the 
b  e  a  u  t  i  f  ul  eight- 
story  building  at 
that  number,  and 
its  doors  are 
never  closed.  It  has  a  library  exceeding 
3,000  volumes,  including  many  reference 
works.  New  books  are  purchased  month- 
ly, while  nearly  all  the  current  magazines 
and  many  daily  and  weekly  publications 
are  kept  in  the  library  racks.  Numerous 
portraits  and  other  paintings  adorn  its 
walls.  There  is  a  writing  room  supplied 
with  typewriters,  a  pool  and  billiard 
room,  a  loungino-  room,  a  grill,  a  buffet 
and  a  barber  shop.  Two  floors  are  given 
over  to  sleeping  rooms. 

Men  and  women  of  distinction  from  all 
Darts  of  the  world  come  to  this  Club  as 
by  a  homing  instinct. 
It  is  a  meeting 
place  for  intellect  and 
ability  of  whatever 
clime  or  country, 
homelike  and  free  of 
ceremony. 

The  club  holds  fre- 
quent receptions  and  en- 
tertainments ;  it  gives 
dinners  and  luncheons 
to  guests;  it  takes 

11 


OOKM  ^.  H^^^^ 


outings;  goes  on  excursions  and 
contributes  in  many  other  ways  to  the 
pleasures  of  its  members  and  their 
guests.  It  extends  a  helping  hand  to 
those  of  its  members  who  may  be  sick  or  in 
want,  and,  if  need  be,  it  gives  them  final 


resting  place  beneath  the  Press  Club  monu- 
ment at  Mount  Hope. 

The  Great  Hall,  as  it  is  sometimes  called, 
is  delightfully  spacious  and  well  lighted. 
The  service  is  unusually  prompt  and  satis- 
factory. There  are  special  tables  for  the 
hurried  business  man  and  tables  of  various 

12 


ClKOi 


sizes  to  accommodate  parties  who  desire  to 
be  together.  The  napery  is  new,  the  china 
is  new,  the  silver  is  new  and  the  general 
surroundings  are  most 
inviting. 

The  kitchen  has  been 
entirely  reconstructed — 
agatile  floors,  new  re- 
frigerators, new  ranges. 
The  culinary  department 
will  now  merit  your  en- 
dorsement, not  only 
through  its  scientific  and 

(sanitary  character,  but 
by  its  excellent  cuisine, 
moderate  tariff  and  spotless  cleanliness. 
Members  are  invited  to  make  a  personal 
inspection.  Our  chef  is  a  culinarian  of  the 
first  class,  an  artist  not  only  in  plain  and 
popular  cooking,  but  in  the  preparation  of 
special    dinners    and    banquets. 

The  private  dining  rooms  are  on  the  fifth 
floor  and  are  so  arranged  that  they  may  be 
thrown  into  one  room,  accomomdating  as 
many  as  sixty  people,  and  are  very  desir- 
able for  banquets  or  special  dinners.  The 
Trade  Press  Association  holds  its  month- 
ly dinners  here,  and  other  organizations 
have  their  special  nights. 

The  ladies'  cafe  has 
already  proved  a  very 
attractive  feature.  It  is 
quite  exclusive,  taste- 
fully deicorated,  with  a 
rest  room,  writing  desks 
and  lavatories.  The  la- 
dies are  availing  them- 
selves of  it  for  lunch- 
eon while  shopping, 
afternoon  tea,  and  eve- 
ning dinners  before  the 
theater. 

The  Club  management  has  paid  particu- 
lar attention  to  the  buffet.     New  coolers, 


13 


MEMBERSHIP 

Active      Life       Non-resident 

ACTIVE  MEMBERS  pay  yearly  dues 
of  forty  dollars  and  may  qualify  as  follows : 

(a)  Persons  regularly  connected  with  the 
press,  in  Chicago  or  elsewhere,  as  editors,  re- 
porters, artists,  proprietors,  paid  correspond- 
ents or  contributors,  general  managers,  busi- 
ness managers  and  proof  readers  of  the  daily 
papers. 

(b)  Authors  of  books  of  original  matter 
and  of  literary  character,  publishers  and  illus- 
trators of  such  books  and  of  magazines,  and 
persons  whose   chief  occupations   are   litetary. 

(c)  Persons  who  can  produce  indisputable 
proof  of  having  at  some  time  followed  one  or 
jnore  of  the  above  occupations  for  a  period  of 
five   years. 

NON-RESIDENT  MEMBERS  must 
have  one  or  more  of  the  qualifications  for 
active  membership,  but  must  not  reside  or 
have  their  place  of  business  in  Chicago  or 
Cook  coitnty.  Fifty  dollars  gives  them  a 
paid  up  membership  for  four  years.  There- 
after they  pay  ten  dollars  annually.  They 
are  entitled  to  all  privileges. 

LIFE  MEMBERS  enjoy  all  of  the  priv- 
ileges of  the  Club,  but  need  not  have  the  lit- 
erary qualifications  of  active  members.  It 
is,  however,  required  that  they  be  persons  of 
character  and  standing.  Life  members  pay 
a  single  fee  of  $300,  and  are  exempted 
from  payment  of  dues.  The  money  re- 
ceived from  life  membership  can  not  be 
used  for  any  purpose  save  the  retirement 
of  bonds  and  the  maintenance  of  the  build- 
ing fund.  The  value  of  such  a  holding  is  ap- 
parent, and  when  the  life  list  is  completed 
no  more  applications  will  be  received. 

14 


LIFE  MEMBERS 
Welcomed  from  the  Business  and  Pro- 
fessional World. 

As  in  most  clubs,  there  is  a  strong  Life 
Membership  in  the  Press  Club  of  Chicago. 
Among  them  are  men  of  the  judiciary,  men 
prominent  in  business,  in  law,  in  medicine, 
men  who  hold  high  office  and  men  of  other- 
wise exaked  standing.  They  find  recreation 
and  profit  in  mingling  occasionally  with 
those  who  supply  the  themes  and  are  the 
central  figures  in  the  current  events  of  city 
and  state. 

They  find  that  neither  rampant  Bo- 
hemianism  nor  commercialized  common 
sense  mars  the  club,  and  that  it  is  a  place 
of  goodly  comforts  and  honest  enjoyments. 


rop,R^' 


The  following  lines  of  Opie  Read  ex- 
press fully  the  sentiments  of  the  active 
members  of  the  club  who  approve  the  pres- 
ent effort  to  broaden  the  membership : 

"From  close  communion  we  have  lessened 
the  tension  of  our  original  creed.  We  wel- 
come certain  intellectual  forces  from  the 
business  world.  We  rejoice  in  our  greater 
scope.  We  take  business  by  the  right  hand. 
We  grasp  the  hand  of  the  professions.  We 
say :  'Be  one  of  us.  Let  us  learn  from 
each  other.  We  are  going  to  build  up  one 
of  the  greatest  social  forces  in  the  country. 
We  welcome  you.'  " 

15 


NON-RESIDENT  MEMBERS. 

If  you  are  connected  with  the  Press  in 
America,  you  ought  to  be  a  member  of  the 
Press  Club  and  have  a  permanent  home  of 
your  own  in  the  heart  of  Chicago,  where 
you  may  come  and  go  as  you  please  and 
enjoy  all  the .  comforts,  conveniences  and 
the  material  necessaries  of  entertainment  at 
moderate  cost. 

The  Press  Club  of  Chicago  is  the  clear- 
ing house  of  the  press  and  the  rendezvous 
of  famous  men.  Here  you  will  find  jour- 
nalists, playwrights,  politicians,  distin- 
guished foreign  visitors  and  men  of  power 
in  every  department  of  publicity,  commerce 
and  the  professions. 

It  is  the  abiding  place  of  just  the  people 
you  want  to  meet,  the  bureau  of  informa- 
tion you  particularly  desire.  It  is  managed 
by  trained  officials  and  served  by  efficient 
attendants  who  understand  your  wants, 
carefully  look  after  your  mail,  telegrams 
and  inquiries  and  deftly  supply  your  needs. 

Every  convenience  of  information  and 
communication  is  at  hand.  You  may  in- 
vite your  friends  and  clients  to  the  Club 
and  entertain  them.  Comforts  and  good 
cheer  -are  boundless.  Ladies  in  your  party 
will  be  at  home  in  the  spacious  parlors  and 
dining  rooms,  and  will  meet  the  wives  and 
daughters  of  other  members  in  an  atmos- 
phere of  congenial  associations. 

To  the  fraternity  of  the  Press,  member- 
ship in  the  Press  Club  of  Chicago  pays  div- 
idends that  are  far  above  money  values. 
Its  emblem  is  at  once  an  introduction,  a 
guaranty  and  a  badge  of  honor  and  dig- 
nity. 

You  should  affiliate  while  the  initial  ex- 
penses are  small.  They  will  be  greater  in 
a  short  time. 


16 


new  glassware  and  well  stocked  with  a 
great  variety  of  wines,  liquors,  table  wa- 
ters and  facilities  for  quick  service,  it 
should  come  up  to  the  expectation  of  the 
most  exacting. 

The  billiard  room,  fronting  on  Dearborn 
street,  is  one  of  the  great  attrac- 
tions of  Club.  It  is  carpeted,  well  light- 
ed and  provisions  made  for  personal 
cues. 

There  are  well-appointed  card  rooms 
on  both  the  third  and  fourth  floors. 

The  Club  has  a  few  very  comfortable 
and  well  furnished  rooms,  with  and  with- 
out baths,  that  may  be  had  by  the  day  or 
week  at  a  reasonable  rate. 

At  the  end  of  the  hall  as  you  enter  the 
building  is  the  barber  shop  and  manicure 


l^KiK'RE.iui 


17 


parlor,  where  the  service  is  of  unusual  ex- 
cellence. 

Many  of  the  entertainments  given  by  the 
Press  Club  are  unique  in  their  way  and  all 
are  of  unusual  interest.  One  of  the  spe- 
cial features  is  the  "Noon-day  Luncheon 
Talks,"  which  occur  frequently.  Famous 
men  and  celebrities  from  all  over  the  world 
appear  at  these  informal  talks. 

There  are  frequent  dancing  parties,  bil- 
liard and  pool  tournaments  and,  during  the 
summer  months,  various  outings  to  places 
of  interest. 

The  Press  Club  is  famous  throughout  the 
country  for  its  out-of-the-ordinary  enter- 
tainments. 

The  Press  Club  Scoop  Shows,  which  bur- 
lesque national  politics  are  given  at  the  Au- 
ditorium theater,  the  only  interior  large 
enough  to  seat  the  throng  which  turns  out 
annually  and 
e  X  p  e  ctantly  ■"  ,,  -^ 

to  enjoy  them.      ^^^^^M. 


18 


The  Ladies. 

The  domain  of  the 
wives  and  daughters 
of  Press  Chib  mem- 
bers is  on  the  fifth 
and  sixth  floors.  They 
may  not  go  below  the 
grand  stairway,  where 


the  men  alone 
hold  sway  and  are 
as  free  and  uncon- 
ventional as  they 
please. 

Among  the  wom- 
en are  many  who 
have  achieved 
journalistic  fame. 
Notably  Jean  Com- 
erford,  a  most  re- 
markable    writer. 


19 


OPIE  READ 


Famous    Novelist,    Lecturer    and    Playwright, 

Extends  a  Greeting  to  the  Newspaper 

and  Business  World. 


Every  man  connected 
with  the  press  and  the 
world  of  business  who 
comes  to  Chicago  ought 
to  have  a  home  in  the 
very  heart  of  the  city. 
Hotels,  res  t  a  u  r  a  n  t  s, 
boarding  houses,  —  yes, 
they  are  well  enough  in 
their  way,  but  for 
strangers  and  especially 
for  men  intellectually 
and  artistically  inclined  they  are  far  from 
being  even  a  reminder  of  home,  except  by 
contrast.  A  home  in  the  throb-center  of 
Chicago  would  be  expensive,  you  say.  Oh, 
no ;  inexpensive.  We  of  the  Press  Club 
of  Chicago  desire  you  to  make  of  our  home 
your  home,  to  come  and  go  as  you  please, 
to  become  a  member  of  our  family.  We 
ofifer  to  you  books,  music  and  above  all. 
goodfellowship.  Our  family  is  a  great  in- 
tellectual socialism.  It  is  a  democracy  of 
ideas,  a  republic  of  congenial  harmonies. 
We  want  your  society ;  with  you  we  desire 
to  exchange  ideas.  We  know  that  you  are 
strong  and  creative  factors  of  our  pro- 
gressive civilization.  Come  to  our  fireside 
and  join  our  family  circle. 

Yours  Fraternally, 

Opie  Read. 


20 


THE  ORIGIN 

of  the 
PRESS  CLUB. 


The  suggestion  that  led  to  the  organiza- 
tion of  this  cUib  was  made  by  Sam  Steele  of 
the  Chicago  Times,  late  in  September 
1879.  Sam's  initiative 
was  followed  up  contin- 
uously until  the  club 
came  into  being. 

At  that  time  the  Owl 
Club,  a  highly  prosper- 
ous and  wide  open  in- 
stitution, occupied  all 
but  the  first  and  second 
floors  of  McVicker's 
theater  building.  The 
Owl  Club  had  been  or- 
ganized three  years  before,  the  original 
membership  being  restricted  to  newspaper 
men  and  other  writers,  and  actors,  musi- 
cians and  followers  of  the  graphic  arts. 
Its  first  year  was  royally  happy,  but  inclu- 
sively impecunious.  Dissolution  was 
averted  through  an  inspiration  of  W.  K. 
Sullivan,  then  city  editor  of  the  Journal. 
He  proposed  to  throw  down  the  bars  and 
admit  anyone  who  got  less  than  five  black- 
balls. 

This  prevailed,  and  thereupon  gaily  ap- 
peared a  vast  flock  of 
free-handed,  opulent 
and  irreligious  new 
members,  for  the  most 
part  board  of  trade  men, 
who  set  things  whirling 
at  a  rate  so  dizzy  that 
by  the  end  of  the  next 
year  we  professional 
members  were  out  of 
breath  and  scared.  We 
had  Frankensteined  our- 


21 


selves,  and  started  some- 
thing we  couldn't  con- 
trol. Action  was  too 
swift  and  the  air  too 
rich  for  most  of  us.  The 
next  few  months  en- 
gendered a  desire  for 
another  try  at  the  real 
thing,  and  by  natural 
^election,  unnecessary  to 
particularize,  this  desire 
found  its  open  protag- 
onist in  Sam. 

Coming  down  the  stairway  one  day  that 
September,  I  met  Sam  going  up.  He 
stopped  me  and  said  he  had  made  up  his 
mind  to  the  break,  and  that  Dave  Hender- 
son and  Jim  Chisholm,  Joe  Dunlop,  Guy 
Magee  and  several  others  were  with  him. 
I  had  been  one  of  the  three  organizers  of 
the  Owl  Club,  and  for  that  reason  I  was 
not  very  powerfully  drawn  to  the  idea  just 
then,  but  its  merit  was  too  obvious  for 
argimient. 

Though  the  matter  was  kept  in  agitation, 
nothing  really  definite  was  done  until  No- 
vember. Then,  about  the  time  the  Army 
of  the  Cumberland  met  in  Chicago  to  wel- 
come General  Grant  home  from  his  tour 
of  the  world,  a  meeting  was  informally  ar- 
ranged. 

The  night  after  the  historic  bancjuet  in  the 
Palmer  house  to  Grant, 
Logan,  Sherman  and 
•  Sheridan,  Mark  Twain 
drifted  into  the  Owl 
Club  and  about  twenty 
of  us  sat  up  with  him 
until  around  seven 
o'clock  next  morning. 
It  was  a  night  of 
glory,  but  there  was 
no  mention  of  a  new 
club. 


S^  WARMAM 


22 


The  informal 
m  e  e  ti  n  g  to 
consider  the 
new  club  was 
held  the  night 


next  following 
(Saturday, 
November  i  6  , 
1879),  in  Jim 
Simms'  place, 
159  Clark  street, 
on  the  east  side 
of  the  way,  op- 
posite Thorn- 
ton's  House  of 
David  and  the 
arcade  that  leads 
t  o    L  a    S  a  1 1  e 

street.  Simms  kept  a  plain  and  homely 
bar,  with  sand  on  the  floor,  a  shuffleboard 
feature,  and  a  side  room  to  the  south.  He 
was  a  Scotsman,  popular  all  round,  and 
Sam  Steele's  especial  friend. 

Sam  was  there.  So  were  Johnnie  Ballan- 
tyne,  Elwyn  Barron,  Melville  E.  Stone,  Dave 
Henderson,  Jim  Chisholm,  Fremont  O. 
Bennett,  Ray  Patterson,  Joseph  R.  Dun- 
lop,  Frank  McClenthan,  Jim  Maitland, 
Frank  Cunningham,  Tod  Cowles,  W.  K. 
Sullivan  and  maybe  a  few  others  of  the 
best  known  newspaper  men,  whose  names 
just  now  escape  memory.  Mark  Twain 
came  with  Sam,  who  had  called  for  him  at 
his  hotel.  I  was  not  present,  being  stuck 
for  an  all  night  job.  I  was  on  the  Times. 
I  heard  the  story  next  day. 

It  was  not  particularly  engaged  with 
Mark  Twain,  but  rather  with  the  difficulty 


of  restraining  Sam  Steele  from  bursting 
forth  in  undesired  song.  Sam  was  one  of 
the  Vernon-Steeles  of  Cheshire.  In  boy- 
hood he  had  been  intended  for  a  career  in 
the  church.  The  intention  became  a  pav- 
ing stone,  but  meanwhile  he  had  earned 
some  distinction  as  a  boy  chorister,  having 
a  sweet  treble  pipe  w^hich  in  maturity  be- 
came a  light  high  tenor.  Any  degree  of 
illumination  set  this  tenor  going,  and 
that  night  there  was  some  mild  illum- 
ination, generally  diffused,  and  by  no 
means  focused  upon  melody  as  a  thing 
indispensable.  Sam's  angel  flutings  had 
to  be  rudely  choked  off,  several  times. 
The  intimate  feature  next  to  this  was  a 
general  agreement,  bitterly  reminiscent  of 
certain  occurrences  in  the  Owl  Club,  that 
anyone  coming  into  a  press  club  in  evening 
clothes  should  be  first  walked  on  and  then 
thrown  out.  It  was  all  good  natured  and 
funny. 

When  the  business  of  considering  the 
new  club  had  been  taken  up,  it  was  ex- 
plained to  Mark  Twain,  and  he  was  asked 
what  he  thought  of  it.  He  said  it  was  a 
mighty  good  idea,  and  that  he  could  see  no 
reason  why  it  should  not  go  through.  That 
was  all  there  was  to  his  share  of  it.  He 
made    no    suggestion,     but     cordially     ap- 

24 


^kAFAYCrrET 


proved  the  one  that  had  been  moot  for  sev- 
eral weeks. 

The  organization  followed  at  a  meeting 
held  in  one  of  the  private  parlors  of  the 
Tremont  house.  All  those  I  have  named  as 
being  in  the  Clark  street  meeting  were 
there,  save  Ray  Patterson  and  Jim  Mait- 
land,  and  in  addition  Franc  Wilkie  and  two 
or  three  others  came. 

Franc  Wilkie  was  called  to  the  chair  and 
Elwyn  Barron  was  made  secretary.  Pre- 
liminary arrangements  were  made,  com- 
mittees were  appointed,  and  the  club  was 
born.  Joe  Dunlop  was  a  committee  of  one 
to  find  quarters.  He  secured  the  room  in 
the  Morrison  block  at  Madison  and  Clark 
streets  that  for  more  than  a  year  was  the 
club's  home. 


25 


Afterward  other 
rooms  were  added,  until 
we  occupied  all  of  two 
floors,  and  part  of  an- 
other. 

Our    subsequent    club 
history    is    well    enough' 
known.     This  story  con- 
cerns itself  only  with  the 
' /' ^  origin   as   it   really   was, 

vvil5lh^k  Ne:3^«7  and  has  no  thought  of 
seriously  disturbing  the 
pleasing,  even  flattering  legend  attributing 
that  origin  to  a  source  so  illustrious.  The 
myth  is  too  firmly  fixed,  too  alluring,  to  be 
now  desired  away. 

If  Melville  Stone  says  a  thing  is  so,  why, 
so  it  is.  But  the  germ  being  there  as  he  de- 
scribes, it  was  a  germ  occulted,  for  it  lay 
unknown  while  the  work  was  going  on.  I 
wish  it  had  been  otherwise,  because  Mark 
Twain  was  the  greatest  we  have  had  among 
us ;  and  heaven  knows  our  roll  of  great 
ones  is  neither  short,  nor  pitched  in  any 
minor  kev.  W.  D.  Eaton. 


A  TRIBUTE  TO  THE  PRESS  CLUB. 

No  one  who  has  not  enjoyed  the  hospi- 
tality of  the  Chicago  Press  Club  knows 
what  he  has  missed.  I  am  deeply  sensible 
of  the  fact  that  I  have  never  known  Chicago 
at  her  best  until  today ;  have  never  known 
the  real  source  of  her  strength  and  the  se- 
cret of  her  renown.  Chicago  is  here.  The 
Press  Club  is  Chicago  incarnate.  This  is 
what  makes  Chicago  famous. 

.     Charles  Warren  Fairbanks, 
Vice-President  of  the  United  States. 

March  i8,  1909. 

26  ■ 


NOTED  VISITORS 


Among  the  hundreds  of  world-renowned 
people  whom  the  Press  Club  has  enter- 
tained are  the  following : 

President    William     Mc-    'Steele    Mackaye 


Kinley 
Sid    Edwin    Arnold 
Henry    M.    Stanley    and 

wife 
Max    O'Rell 
Gen.   Lew  Wallace 
George    Kennan 
David    Swing 


F.    Hopkinson    Smith 
Thomas  Nast 
Dr.  Carl  Von  Bergen 
Wilton    Lackaye 
E.   S.   Willard 
George   W.   Childs 
Hubert   Vos 
Henry  Guy  Carleton 
Robert   G.   IngersoU 
Wilson   Barrett 
Chauncey  M.  Depew 
George  Wharton  James 
Joaquin  Miller 
Jerome  K.  Jerome 
Gov.  S.  R.  VanSant 
Gov.    A.    B.    Cummins 
Col.    G.    B.    M.    Harvey 
Thomas    Watson 
Eugene    V.    Debs 
Gov.   F.   M.   Warner 
lenatius    Donnelly 
Gov.    Bob   Taylor 
Edwin   Markham 


Admiral    Schley 
Gen.    Fred   Funston 
Richard    P.    Hobson 
Mrs.   Frank  Leslie 
Ella   Wheeler   Wilcox 
Sara    Bernhardt 
George  Alfred  Townsend 
Henry    Mapleson 
Marie   Rose    Mapleson 
Eduard    Remenyi 
Emma   Abbott 
Hon.    John    Hay 
Hon.    James   W^ilson 
Sir   Henry   Irving 
Ellen    Terry 
Adelina   Patti 
Mme.    Parepa  Rosa 
John   McCullough 
Jessie   Bartlett  Davis 
A.  M.  Palmer 
Gen.   William   Booth 
Robert   Mantell 
Ben  Perley.  Poore 
Thomas   W.    Kenne 
T^'ong  Ching  Foo 
Henry   E.   Abbey 
Sir   Moses   Monteflore 
R.  J.  Oglesby 
Roland  Reed 
Whitelaw   Reid 
Irving   Batcheller 
George   W.    Peck 
Weedon    Gropsmith 
Meridith  Nicholson 


Prof.   Willis  E.   Moore 
George   W^.    Swallow 
Gov.    D.    R.    Francis 
Bayard    Taylor 
Chas.  W^arren  Stoddard 
John   L.    Stoddard 
Vice-President    C.    W. 

Fairbanks 
W^illiam  R.  Hearst 
Sir   William   Gilbert 
Sir    George    Reid,     Pre- 
mier of  Australia 
Lord   Chelsmore 
Sir  Arthur  Lawley 
Sir  Samuel  Baker 
Hon.   Neil   Primrose 
General   Beauregard 
Thomas  Nelson  Page 
Hon.    Alton   B.    Parker 


Building    at    26    North    Dearborn    Street, 
/ic^QO  Owned  and  Occupied  by  the 

"press      club     of     CHICAGO 


